Queen of the Headphone Zombies

Concerto

Hear Me Now // Bad Wolves ft. DIAMANTE

Emerson

Two Months Later...

The holidays usually suck. My mom has a professional decorator make the house elegantly festive. No handmade kindergarten ornaments on Marilyn Russe's tree, thank you very much. Forget red and green, she prefers burgundy and juniper. It would be nice if my own mother wouldn't cause my allergies to go haywire with her live pine garlands in every freaking room of the house.

My dad, rather than adopting some Christmas cheer, turns into an even bigger scrooge than normal, chastising my mom about breaking the bank with her excessive shopping and gifts. He likes the finer things in life, but he also hordes his cash. Kind of an oxymoron, if you ask me. So, yeah, for at least the last ten years--when I began to notice the holiday mood swing--I've pretty much hated Christmas.

This year is different. My mom has still gone overboard with the decorating. I'm still popping antihistamines on a daily basis. My dad even muttered 'bah humbug' a couple of times at the dinner table. But this year I have Zoe and the band. This year I've found a slice of happiness and I'm hanging onto it with all I've got. This year, I'm finally honest with everyone in my life.

My phone pings in my back pocket so I pull it out to see a text from my girl.

Zoe: Be there in ten

Me: Can't wait. <3

Yeah, I added a heart emoji, so what? I'm a man in love and if that means I'm showing my feminine side, I don't give a shit. I spent too long hiding how I really feel. Now I'm letting it all out. I don't ever want Zoe to doubt my feelings for her again so I tell her every day, in every way I can, that she means everything to me. I'm all in, and thanks to the intervention of one crazy she-witch, so is Zoe.

Speaking of Blondie, she should be right behind Zoe. I don't want them crossing paths before it's time. I reopen my text messages and shoot off a reminder to Chelsea. She's been even more bat shit then normal lately. Must be that same holiday mood swing that infects my parents.

Me: Zoe will be here soon. Don't blow our secret!

It only takes about five seconds for her to respond so I'm not surprised when her text is just a stream of random letters.

Blondie: DWH SIOHW

Fortunately, I've become fluent in crazy over the last couple of months. Either that or Blondie has cast some voodoo on me so I'd stop asking her to spell everything out. She has no patience for that. My skills must be at an all time high because I translate Blondie's text without even trying.

Don't worry, handsome. Santa is on her way.

She better be. I've been planning this forever but couldn't have pulled it off without Chelsea's help. As much as I love Zoe, Chelsea knows her much better than I do, so she's been my go-to informant in the Christmas gift department. Zoe spends most of her time here with me, which is why I've kept everything at Chelsea's house until today.

The doorbell rings and I don't hesitate to be the first one there. Both of us are kind of nervous about how the evening will go, so I'm planning to stick right by Zoe's side through everything.

I open the door and my eyes immediately find her. My girl is so fucking gorgeous every day of the week, but tonight she's on another level. She's rocking the purple tips and has highlighted them by keeping everything else dark. She's wearing a little black dress that fits like a glove accented by biker boots with steel toes. The only thing missing is her purple beats, something Zoe's never without. I've got a plan for that, however, so I'm actually glad she left them out. Zoe is looking me up and down with an expression that must match mine. Hot.